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The Rise of the Son of Osama bin Laden: Message to Jihadists in Syria

One of the late Osama bin Laden’s sons is following in his father’s footsteps. Hamza bin Laden is now in his late 20s and appears to be ready to take over leadership of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group.

On the anniversary of the infamous 9/11 terrorist attacks, Al-Qaeda shared a photo with Osama bin Laden and his son, Hamza standing in the Twin Towers wreckage.

Hamza was one of three of bin Laden’s sons and he had always longed to lead by his father’s side.

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“One, Bakr (also known as Ladin), would distance himself from al-Qaeda, both geographically and ideologically. Another, Khalid, would die protecting his father at their compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011. The third, Hamza, would vanish for years before reemerging in 2015 as the most likely candidate to reunite a fractured jihadi movement and lead al-Qaeda to a future still more violent than its past,” writes The Daily Beast.

From early on, Hamza was being groomed to lead the terrorist organization. Recently, more and more Al-Qaeda propaganda campaigns featuring bin Laden’s favorite son have been promoted by the organization.

A few days after the 9/11 post, As Sahab, which acts as Al-Qaeda’s propaganda arm, released a message entitled “The Cause of al-ShÄm is the Cause of Islam.”

“The cause of Syria is the cause of the entire worldwide Muslim community,” said Hamza bin Laden in an undated audio recording released last Thursday. “In order for the people of Syria to resist the Crusader, Shiite and international aggression, Muslims — all Muslims — must stand with them, support them and give them victory.”

Hamza sent this message to boost the morale of Sunni jihadists fighting in Syria.

“The body of the Muslim Ummah – specifically its Syrian wound – has severely deteriorated, and is in need of urgent treatment,” said Hamza. “If we are able to treat this wound, we should be able to treat the other wounds as well. And if we ignore this wound, the injury will only spread and we will be left unable to treat the whole body.”

Al-Qaeda has made many enemies, many of which are other terrorist groups, that aren’t afraid to use similar tactics to bin Laden’s organization.

“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Sunni extremist group that last month seized control of the northern Syrian city of Idlib, is dominated by the Al-Qaeda offshoot, which officially broke ties with the network founded by Osama bin Laden,” writes The Times of Israel. “But experts say the name change was little more than a re-branding. Many believe the group is positioning itself as more moderate than the Islamic State group in hopes of a resurgence.”

Hamza bin Laden was officially added to the terrorist blacklist by the U.S. State Department early this year. However, there have been very few photos and details about him discovered.